Last spring, I accidentally discovered LiveSchool while searching for classroom gamification ideas. After watching a few videos, I figured out that LiveSchool has the potential to help our campus by replacing our paper token economy, sharing comments about individual student behavior among teachers and parents, providing hall pass notifications, and generating individual and schoolwide data.

After a phone call, web conference tutorial, and a few emails, I was able to set up a LiveSchool pilot for our August intersession. I created a behavior rubric in LiveSchool based on our current Building Effective Schools Together (BEST) positive behavior intervention supports (PBIS) expectations. I also created rosters for each intersession class. However, when I tried to actually use the behavior rubric in in my class last week, I quickly determined that it was too complicated--there were more than twenty positive and negative behaviors on our rubric! It was definitely in need of revision before being shared with the three other intersession teachers.

Today, I met with my principal, Yvette Davis, to discuss the essential expectations. She challenged me by guiding me to change the rubric so each student only earn points per class period. We removed the negative behaviors and--with the help of a few students--created a list of five desired behaviors:

Remain in Class all Period

Complete Assigned Activities

Be Attentive

Use Appropriate Language

Help Others

We discussed the potential of adding bonus points and possible in class purchases, such as restroom passes. We will also continue to revise this simple rubric as our schoolwide behavior plan is updated later this summer.

By the end of the week, I hope to train the other teachers to access their rosters and award points to their students. With my students’ help, I will create a list of rewards to “sell” at the end-of-intersession recognition assembly. Also, I am going to ask a student to teach her peers how to access their accounts. I am curious to see how LiveSchool can be used to encourage intersession students to succeed.